Pakistan International Airlines is drawing controversy after it reportedly told “obese” employees of its cabin crew to lose weight in 2019 or risk being fired.
It stipulated, “any crew found above 30 pounds from the desired weight after 31st January, 2019, will be grounded and referred to Air Crew Medical Center for medical evaluation & treatment until weight is reduced up to desired standard/BMI,” according to the news outlet.
It added, “Henceforth, weight check of all the cabin crew will be carried out at their base stations respectively and comprehensive data will be maintained for the perusal of management.”
Mashhood Tajwar, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, told CNN the memo was a “regular, routine” situation.
The airline sent it out to make sure the firm had “slim, smart, and fit” flight attendants after it apparently faced concerns about “obese” flight attendants.
“No one would like to have shabby crew in the aircraft,” he added.
In 2014, India’s civil aviation regulator said a body mass index (BMI) of between 18 and 25 is required for male cabin crew members.
“The airline has dismissed from service its 50 staffers including three pilots for holding fake high school degrees,” Tajwar said of the firings.
Six pilots were fired for the same reason, he added.
In 2017, the firm was slammed for forgetting two dead bodies that were slated to be transported from Pakistan to New York.
The airliner also faced drug-smuggling investigations after drugs were seized on a plane heading from Pakistan to Dubai in 2016.
